Bar: Lawyer took $500K from dead clients

A La Jolla attorney is facing discipline from the State Bar of California after he allegedly took more than $500,000 from his deceased clients’ estate without the court’s permission, which prompted at least one beneficiary — the American Cancer Society — to sue him.

The State Bar claims that James McGowan, 76, paid himself nearly $515,000 from the trust of his client, Henry Thackwell, who died in April 2001, and the estate of Thackwell’s wife, Hildegard Thackwell, who died six months later. According to the bar complaint, McGowan said the money was compensation for legal services rendered, but he has not provided an accounting of the legal work he did on behalf of the trust and estate.

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The payments occurred over a span of nine years, according to the bar, which licenses lawyers and regulates their conduct under the auspices of the state Supreme Court. The bar has issued three charges against McGowan, which will be heard by the State Bar Court.

State law requires that probate attorneys receive court approval before being paid out of estate funds, which the bar says did not occur with these funds.

McGowan notified his other clients in July, shortly after the bar filed charges, that he was retiring after 50 years of practicing law.

“I have been honored to have been your attorney for these past many years, and consider you not only a client, but also a friend,” McGowan said.

The attorney did not return phone calls or an email request for comment from U-T Watchdog, which began trying to reach him on Monday.

McGowan’s law license remains active, although the bar has issued a consumer alert regarding the pending disciplinary charges.

Henry Thackwell hired McGowan in 2001 to draft his will and trust, which called for half of his estate, or nearly $1 million, to be transferred to his wife’s estate when he died. After he died, Hildegard Thackwell also retained McGowan to draft her will, naming McGowan and a family friend, Terence Allen, as co-trustees and coexecutors of her estate. Hildegard died in October 2001.

Once in 2007 and once in 2009, McGowan stated in probate court documents – which are signed under penalty of perjury — that he had not received any attorney’s fees, the bar says. Records indicated that he had taken more than $130,000 by that time, according to the bar.

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The American Cancer Society, which was to be a beneficiary of Hildegard Thackwell’s estate, challenged McGowan’s claims in 2010. At that time, the bar says, McGowan acknowledged that he had paid himself $135,573 from the Hildegard estate and $378,000 out of the Henry Thackwell’s trust before transferring Hildegard’s share of the trust to her estate.

The Cancer Society filed suit shortly thereafter, and ultimately settled with McGowan for $200,000, according to the bar. Representatives of the nonprofit declined to comment, citing the active bar inquiry.

Public records indicate McGowan has had more than 10 liens against him totaling more than $200,000 and has filed at least one bankruptcy, in 1999.